What Happened?
Shares of chicken producer Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ: PPC) fell 2.6% in the afternoon session after peer Hormel Foods reported disappointing earnings.
Hormel, a major global food company, announced that while it delivered strong top-line results, its earnings fell short of expectations. The company cited a "steep rise in commodity input costs affecting our industry" as the primary reason for the shortfall. This news has sparked concern among investors that other companies in the food and protein sector, such as Pilgrim's Pride, may be facing similar margin pressures from rising costs. The negative report from a key industry player is weighing on sentiment for the entire group, as rising input costs can directly impact profitability.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy Pilgrim's Pride? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
What Is The Market Telling Us
Pilgrim's Pride’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 5 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 4 months ago when the stock dropped 14.8% on the news that the company reported weak first quarter 2025 results which included an EBITDA miss and gross margin falling short of Wall Street's estimates. Sales and earnings also missed analysts' estimates. Overall, this was a weaker quarter.
Pilgrim's Pride is down 7.3% since the beginning of the year, and at $43.80 per share, it is trading 22.1% below its 52-week high of $56.26 from March 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Pilgrim's Pride’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,682.
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